AnneSchulz

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2016-04-09

I found a recipe for a lemon cake with coconut flour I wanted to try - Gluten-free Coconut Flour Lemon Cake. But as nearly always with recipes I find, I had to make some adjustments. I had no xylitol and didn't want to buy it, since I already have a variety of sweeteners. I used a blonde coconut blossom nectar instead. It has a sourly fruity tone, I thought would fit to a lemon cake. My pan did not have the size mentioned in the recipe. It's a bit larger. So I used the 1.5x amount of some ingredients. Since I like lemon cake very lemony I used the juice of a whole lemon and the zest of two.

Prep and cook time: 1 hour

¼ + ⅛

cup coconut oil

8

eggs

½ + ¼

cup coconut milk

6

tablespoons coconut blossom nectar

¼

tea spoon ground bourbon vanille

1

tablespoon lemon zest

½ + ¼

cup coconut flour

½ + ¼

teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder

½

teaspoon salt

1

lemon, juiced

Preheat oven to 175 °C. Measure out coconut oil and place in an 21x30cm pan. Place pan in the oven to melt the coconut oil. Once the coconut oil is melted (check while mixing the other ingredients), remove the pan from the oven and let it cool.

Whisk the eggs, coconut milk, coconut blossom nectar, lemon zest and lemon juice together. Sift the coconut flour (sometimes there are lumps in it) into a seperate bowl. Add the baking powder, ground vanille and salt. Combine the dry ingredients. Stir them into the wet ingredients.

Once pan with melted coconut oil is cooled enough to handle, carefully slope pan so the coconut oil also greases the sides of the pan. After that pour the coconut oil into the batter and mix until all lumps are gone.

Pour the batter into the greased pan and place on the middle rack of the oven. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until browned on top and a toothpick comes out clean.

Optional frosting:

1

tablespoon coconut blossom nectar

½

lemon, juiced

Let the cake cool a little, but add the frosting when it's still warm. Combine coconut blossom nectar and lemon juice until the former is completely dissolved. Drizzle over the cake. When pools a building, use a spoon to spread evenly.

On out trip around the island we passed a racetrack. There every saturday horse races take place. We learned that each morning the horses take a swim at Pebbles beach. We see that beach when looking out of the window of our hotel room. So we could watch the horses doing their aqua fitness one morning. This beach like every other one in Barbados is a public one. Saturdays and sundays many families use it.

This is the catamaran, where we spent our day as you imagine having one in the Caribbean. Before leaving the port Sean asked every one what they wanted to drink. It felt like he did that every 15 to 30 minutes during the whole trip and even reminded you to drink so that you wouldn't dehydrate or your beer get warm. When we left the port we set sail for a spot where we could snorkel and swim with the turtles. It is a sure spot to watch turtles cause the boats feed them there. It was amazing how many there were between the swimmers and even surfaced to get some air.

We set sail to the north and sailed along the coast, lying in the net of the catamaran, listening to schmaltzy music, reggae and other music with a beat. Sometimes Sheldon (the captain) would silence the music to tell something about what we could see at the coast. We made a second stop, where we snorkeled above sunken ship and a reef. We saw a lot of different fish and corals. Between us right under the surface swam several flying fish. That really startles you when you are focused looking under you and suddenly notice something swimming right in front of your forehead.
We got back on the boat, ate something, drank some more, went swimming again and listened to some more music. Wie enjoyed the sun, the ocean and the wind.

In a part of Bridgetown there were several small colorful huts selling local products. A cannon ball tree stands between these huts. It has these blossoms. The same tree has some kind of fruit that are as large as cannon balls hence the name. We were told, the Barbadians are not very creative when it comes to naming stuff: one little bird, that behaves like our sparrow, is simply named "black bird", cause that's what it is.

Further south there is Codrington College, where Anglican priests of the Caribbean are educated. Up to the college leeds an alley of royal palms. There was a rule, that you could not build higher on Barbados than these palms are. Thebcollege building is surrounded by a nice garden.

In the morning we made another kayak tour to No Mans Island, where we went swimming and enjoyed the view. On our way back to the start of the kayak tour a guide told us something about the mangroves, the fish and the other animals that live there.

On our way to the falls we walked through a rain forest, which grows several plants that were imported by people coming to the island long ago - mainly from Africa. The picture above shows a bread nut, which when roasted tastes like chestnut. On the island there also grow a lot of bread fruit. These are larger, do not have these prickels and when cooked taste like potatoes.

Several exhibits we say inside the Curaçao museum were used by people on the island long ago and some are still used inside their homes today. The museum also showed some local art. The kitchen above was painted dark red to hide the soot of the open fire. The white polka dots where painted on it, to make the kitchen less dark and to confuse the flies.

On a small detour we say flamingos living in the wild. The grottoes are limestone caves above the surface, which are very warm and wet. Due to the algae living in there, you are only allowed to take pictures in one of the caves.

Afterwards we went to the little factory where the Curaçao of Curaçao is produced during the picking seasons of the Valencia oranges on the island. There are five colors of the liquor, which taste exactly the same. By now liquor with the flavour oft cocoa, coffee and rum raisin are produced. Of course you can taste all of the flavours before leaving the factory.

On our way into the town we went over the Queen Emma Bridge, which can only be used by pedestrians and cyclists. It swims in Pontons and can open for ships wanting into the port. A flag at the house which opens the bridge indicates how long the bridge will be open: yellow meaning up to ten minutes, blue meaning at least half an hour. If the bridge is open with the blue flag a Ferry brings pedestrians from one part oft town to the other one.

On the trees there were many pelicans and other birds. One or the salt lakes is home to jelly fish that live in symbiosis with algae. The agae lives in the tentacles of the jelly fish. To allow the algae to perform photosynthesis the jelly fish turns so that the tentacles point to the water surface.